Punctuation is very important. Without it, writing would not make sense, even if you used the most interesting words you could think of.

Look at this:

alex come here scooby thats a good lad come on then boy alien scooby is earthboy alex no scooby is my pet dog I am a boy alien you are not earthman alex no im just a boy alien where is earthman

Alex: Come here, Scooby, that's a good lad. Come on then, boy.

Alien: Scooby is Earthboy.

Alex: No Scooby is my pet dog. I am a boy.

Alien: You are not Earthman?

Alex: No, I'm just a boy.

Alien: Where is Earthman?

Here is a list of some of the punctuation marks you should remember to use.

We use an apostrophe when two words are shortened into one.
For example: it is becomes it's
do not becomes don't

It is also used when something belongs to someone. For example: the old man's stick
Mrs Brown's funny turn.

We use a colon before a list.

For example:
John remembered the things he needed: tickets, money, scarf, and gloves.

It can be used before some spoken words:
For example:
Alex: No, I'm just a boy.
Alien: Where is Earthman?

It can also be used to divide two sentences, where the second sentence is closely linked to the first. For example:
The garden was white: it had been snowing all night.

A comma separates parts of a sentence.

For example:
When one door of happiness closes, another opens.

A dash is used when you want to add an extra thought to a sentence.

For example:
Don't hate yourself in the morning - sleep till noon.

An exclamation mark is used at the end of a sentence, usually when you want to say something strongly.

For example:
Once, she even locked her mother in the pantry !.

A full stop is used at the end of most sentences.

For example:
The planet nearest to the sun is Mercury.

A hyphen links two words to make a new word or phrase.

For example:
Lip reading is a skill that few deaf-blind people manage.

A question mark is used at the end of a sentence that asks a question. It takes the place of the full-stop.

For example:
Where do they keep the animals during the day?

A semi-colon separates parts of a long sentence.

For example:
The Eskimos have 52 words for snow because it is so special to them; there ought to be as many words for love!

Speech marks used around the words that a person is saying.

For example:
"Looks pretty big that tent, doesn't it?" said Danny.